1966 Nova Station Wagon - Rattle and Hum

Times they are a changin’. Not very long ago, a guy could build something radically different from what his friends were building just by dropping an LS1 into his car instead of the throwback big-block. But the LS is now the rule and not the exception, and Chad Moscrei is one of many hot rodders purposely avoiding Chevy’s latest and greatest small-block just to shake the herd. Instead, his ’66 Nova is reinforced to carry the heft of Chevy’s contemporary workhorse big-block, the LBZ Duramax diesel. This one packs a wallop to the tune of 585 hp and 790 lb-ft of torque. It doesn’t get much further from the norm than that.

2/8The license plate is only a vague clue to what lies beneath the hood of Chad Moscrei’s ’66 Chevy Nova wagon. The tire-tucking stance is made possible by a triangulated four-link in the rear, a Mustang II–style A-arm front suspension, and Ridetech airbags at all four corners.

The wagon also wears a motif that we are seeing more of lately: a weathered stock exterior and interior combined with modern power and suspension upgrades yielding an ultralow stance over plus-sized rolling stock. It’s neither Pro Touring nor Slo Touring. It’s tempting to call this thing a beater, but it runs too well and the fab work is too sanitary for that undignified label. For now, let’s just call it a bucket, because it’s useful and rusty.

The car was built in just 12 months, with the intent of slogging along Power Tour® without overheating. The backstory begins in Southern California, where the original owner drove it throughout high school and then parked it. Chad bought the car sight unseen after finding it on Craigslist, then spent $800 to ship it home to Iowa. There, he swapped in the Duramax using a Jim Weimer’s Rod Shop Mustang II front clip. The factory-style, big-block mounts bolted right up to the diesel, and the clip features 101⁄2-inch disc brakes and 11⁄4-inch round tubular control arms instead of the puny 7⁄8-inch original Mustang arms—perfect for the heavy drivetrain combo. The remaining custom work happened at 417 Motorsports in Springfield, Missouri, with Blake Hughes taking charge. A 4L80E four-speed overdrive trans was pulled from a rolled ’06 Chevy Silverado and supported with a tubular crossmember network that also extends to the back of the Nova, providing perches for a triangulated four-link and strengthening the chassis. The link bars locate a Lincoln Versailles 9-inch rearend with 2.42:1 gears and a locker, and Ridetech provided a four-corner airbag suspension system.

3/8A diesel Nova? Yes. The GM Duramax LBZ powerplant is internally stock, but factory turbos were dumped in favor of twins robbed from Buick Grand National V6s. The hair dryers feed two custom air-to-air intercoolers and a custom intake manifold. K&N flat-panel filters keep the dirt out. The exhaust is a custom-bent, 3-inch system. The 4L80E trans is stock except for a Rossler manual-shift valvebody.

After dropping 40 grand on top of the initial $3,500 investment, Chad completed the build in fall 2010. Since then, Chad has logged 10,000 miles and Long-Hauled™ Power Tour® in comfort, with bench seats and plenty of room for friends and gear. The wagon goes like a bat out of hell (thanks to the torque of the diesel), stops reasonably well, and cruises without overheating. The stance gets the car noticed. The beat-down look makes most people ask why. And the exhaust note is like a tractor beam for any serious gearhead. Mission accomplished.